Absentee Ballot Process

There is no specific deadline to request an absentee ballot. Ballots are available 46 days before an election

Completed mail ballots must be received by your county auditor no later than the Election Day. Any voter may vote absentee in any election they choose.

With absentee voting, you can vote either in person before Election Day at a location designated by your county elections official or by mail. You must submit a written or online application to your county auditor. Call your county auditor for details. To vote by mail, fill out the form to request an absentee ballot. The ballot will then be mailed directly to you.

You do not need to be registered to vote to request an absentee ballot. A voter registration application will be included in the materials. You must show your witness an accepted proof of residence when registering.

Election Dates

To find out information about local elections contact your local League of Women Voters or contact your local Board of Elections.

Eligibility Requirements

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To be eligible to vote in Minnesota you must be:

At least 18 years old on Election Day

A citizen of the United States

A resident of Minnesota for 20 days immediately preceding Election Day

Not under court-ordered guardianship in which the court order revokes your right to vote or not been found by a court to be legally incompetent to vote

Not convicted of a felony, your felony sentence has expired (been completed,) or you have been discharged from your sentence

Not have been ruled legally incompetent by a court of law

You may pre-register as a 17 year old, as long as you will be 18 by the next election date (special, township, primary, general). If a special election is scheduled before you turn 18 your registration will be returned to you and you are asked to wait until after the special election before registering again.

ID Needed for Voter Registration

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To register to vote by mail you need to provide your Minnesota driver's license number or Minnesota ID number. If you have not been issued a Minnesota driver's license or Minnesota ID, you will need to provide the last 4 digits of your Social Security number. If you have none of these, write NONE in box #10b of your voter registration application. This is required by law.

To register at the polling place on Election Day, you must have authorized proof of residence. This includes:

A valid Minnesota driver's license, learner's permit, Minnesota ID card or receipt for any of these

A valid student ID card including your photo, if your college has provided a student housing list to election officials

You must re-register if your name or address changes or you have not voted in more than four years.

ID Needed for Voting?

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You only need ID to vote if you have not registered before arriving at the polling precinct or if you are a first time federal voter who registered by mail and whose registration was not verified. You must show one of the same IDs as are valid on Election Day registration.

Overseas and Military Voters

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You are a Military or Overseas voter if you are in uniformed services, living overseas OR a spouse or dependent of a uniformed services voter. To get registered and vote, you can utilize Overseas Vote Foundation.

If you have additional questions about elections and voting overseas you can use our state specific elections official directory or contact the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Poll Worker Information

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In order to be a poll worker in Minnesota:

You must be registered to vote in Minnesota

You must be at least 18 years of age

You will be entitled to compensation, but may decline it.

You must be a resident of the state 20 days prior to the election

You must complete required training

Students 16 years or older who are registered in High school may work with written permission to be absent from school from a parent or guardian

Polling Place Locator

If you have further questions on your polling place location, please contact your county clerk.

Provisional Voting

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While there is no provisional voting in Minnesota, Election Day registration is available.

Provisions for Voters with Disabilities

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If you need help with voting, you can ask the election judges at the polling place for assistance in reading or marking the ballot. You may also bring someone to help you. All polling places should be fully accessible with clearly marked accessible doors and parking spaces. If you cannot easily leave your car, you can ask for the ballot to be brought out to you. If you are unable to go to the polling place due to an illness or disability, you can vote by absentee ballot. If you have limited vision, you may ask for voter registration and absentee ballot instructions in an alternative format. If you are hearing impaired, every county and most cities will have a TDD device for questions. Materials can be provided in braille, on audio tape, on CD or in large print. To order any brochures or to order a voter registration application and instructions on how to fill it out, contact the secretary of state's elections division at 651-215-1440 or toll free, at 1-877-600-8683. TTY: 1-800-627-3529.

Registration Deadline

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Registration temporarily closes 20 days before an election. You can still register to vote at your polling location on Election Day or at your Early Voting location. You will need to provide a proof of residence in order to register on Election Day.

You may also register online though the Secretary of State website. You must complete the online registration 21 days before the election.

Time Off To Vote

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You have the right to take time off of work to vote. Employers cannot require you to use personal leave or vacation time. Your employer may ask that you let them know when you will be gone. Employees should only take as much time off as needed to vote and then return to work immediately.

Verify Voter Registration

Voting Machines

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The voting systems used in Minnesota are optical scan and paper ballots.

Optical Scan: With this system, you will receive a card or sheet of paper, which you take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil you fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. When you are finished filling out all the cards, you may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show you how to put the cards in the box. Or in some places, you may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device that checks your card or paper right there at the polling place to make sure you have voted the way you want to and counts the votes.

Paper Ballots: Paper ballots are one of the oldest ways of voting in America. They are still used in a few places on Election Day. When you come to the polling place, you will get a paper ballot from the poll worker. You take it to the voting booth, and use a pen or pencil to mark a box next to your candidate and issue choices. You then drop the marked ballot into a sealed ballot box.

Direct Recording Electronic (DRE): This is the newest kind of system in use in the U.S. All the information about who and what you are voting for is on an electronic screen like a TV or computer screen.

There are many variations of DREs because lots of companies are inventing new ones, and many cities, counties and states are trying them out. Usually, after you have signed in, the poll workers will give you a card that you slide into a device to start your voting session.

Some of these devices will show all of the candidates and ballot choices on one big screen. Often, with these big screen devices you push a button next to the name of the candidate you want to vote for (or yes or no on a ballot measure). On other DREs, the screen is set up to show pages. On each screen or page, there will probably be one thing to vote on. For example, on one screen or page, you might vote for president. Then you might move to the next page to vote for senator. Often these small-screen devices have a touch screen, where you touch the screen next to the name of the person you want to vote for. Other devices have a key pad. And some have a keyboard, so you can write in the name of someone you want to vote for.

You let the system know you are finished voting by pushing a button, touching the screen or entering something on a keypad.

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VOTE411 is committed to ensuring voters have the information they need to successfully participate in every election. Whether it's local, state or federal, every election is important to ensuring our laws and policies reflect the values and beliefs of our communities.